Really enjoyed this book. Great plot and engaging, believe characters. I was drawn right into the story. Would definitely recommend.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

The synopsis of this book caught my attention, on a sunny summer morning by the sea in New England, Susan Ford’s cocoon of privilege is threatened when an Iraqi man from her distant past boards a plane in Baghdad to come find her. And boy, it did not disappoint.

This novel is very well written with some interesting developed characters. A pleasure to read. Can't wait to read more from this author.

I am not leaving a review due to the fact that this book did not interest me enough to finish the story.

I started Finding Mrs. Ford late one night and ended up devouring the domestic suspense, spanning from 1979 to 2014, in just two sittings. This book centers around themes of friendship, loss, and identity. The dual times lines and short chapters had me racing through Mrs. Ford’s past and present to find out her secrets. So well done!

This is as book that I wouldn’t highly recommend as a book club read. I thoroughly enjoyed and I think many others would as well. It surrounded by great characters that I think many would be able to relate to and the story kept you hangin on until the very end. This book, a few friend and a glass of wine would make the perfect night.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this book was a very well written, smart, original, suspenseful and addictive thriller.
I loved how the author told the story to the reader by using the past and present story lines.
I will definitely be reading more books by this author.

The FBI visits Mrs. Ford, a middle-aged widow in a tony coastal neighborhood, to question her connection to a Chaldean gun-runner who happened to have her name and address on his person. Their story began with two young women—troubled Annie and her straight-laced friend Susan—working in a Detroit discotheque, as cocktail waitresses in the late 70s. Naivete inadvertently places them amidst the territory negotiations between the Chaldeans and the Italian brothers who own the discotheque. Royce brilliantly juxtaposes their young lives upon the questionable atmosphere of the discotheque and the shady men who run it and frequent it, the flashbacks graphically detailed and relevant to Mrs. Ford’s current incarnation as the widow of Jack Ford. I graciously received this intriguing thriller from the publisher Post Hill Press through NetGalley for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book and uncovering the truth about Mrs Ford's past. A good twist that I didn't expect. I'd definitely read more from the author.

A thrilling read which kept me turning the pages, characters you care for and just brilliantly written. Great novel!!

A mystery novel about identity and bad guys.
In the one corner there are two teenage girls who are friends but also opponents, each wanting to be like the other. In the other corner there are Italian-Americans and Catholic Iraqis. Two stories, one set in the 1970s the other in 2014. At some point all will become clear and the stories will join.

Getting to that point is fairly detailed in places, sometimes the childhood days unnecessarily so, but it is an exciting journey that includes gangsters, drugs, love, murder and violence as well as immature fall-outs. Credit to the author that there are few signposts so we read on in an attempt to find Mrs Ford and understand the significance, who and why.

The writing is clear although towards the end it becomes long-winded and abstract, not in keeping with the rest of the book. Unfortunately, the modern day conclusion is unsatisfying and a little incredible and mawkish. As well as this, the absurdly beautiful and perfect Chaldean-Iraqi deserves further development. In nearly every breath he says that he is a Chaldean without giving anything more about what it means, the ancient roots or any cultural information about these peoples.

My favourite titbit was that one of the dogs was named 'Pliny' after Pliny the Younger!

An American thriller, a great beach read..

#NetGalley #FindingMrsFord

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

Fun, nicely written summer read with an unexpected twist or two. I liked the structure of clustered time frame chapters and the accuracy of place in all descriptions.

There are a few surprises and twists along the way in a book that jumps back and forward between 1979 and 2014. We are following the life of quiet, studious Susan Bentley, who lives with her elderly, sick father in a Detroit suburb in 1979 when she is about to finish her final year at college. Her quiet summer job in a local clothing store soon changes when she meets Annie Nelson. Annie persuades Susan to come and work in a notorious local disco, run by Frankie, a dodgy seeming character. We discover the shady characters the girls meet and how their lives change. We also follow Susan's story in 2014, as an affluent widow living on the coast outside of New York, running a real estate company with her stepson and friend, Jack Junior. We join her as she is visited by the FBI - her name had come up during investigations into a man from Iraq, Sammy Fakhouri, who had her name and address in his possession when he was picked up entering the USA. What is the connection? And what is Susan hiding? What really happened at the end of summer 1979? The events of the past can come back to haunt someone decades later. The story fits the two parts together, and I didn't see the main twist coming, until it was upon me- very well done. #netgalley #findingmrsford

There were a lot of parts of this book that I enjoyed/appreciated, but for me it didn’t hit the money. I feel like maybe if I read it in a different time period of my life/frame of mind, I may feel differently... and so I plan to pick it up again and reread another time. 3 star.

If you are looking for a contemporary mystery, this book definitely deserves to be picked up! The blurb is misleading (at least the UK one is) in alluding to a much more politically driven plot -this is in there, but it isn't really a key issue.

Mrs Ford has a seemingly perfect life and her narration really pulls you in. Just when you're beginning to wonder what the mystery is supposed to be -because everything so far seems pretty cut and dry- at exactly 50% (thanks, kindle) the whole narrative turns upside down. Like, I'm talking, I think I audibly gasped and went "Nooooo! What??"

The rest of the book works backwards through a lot of what you thought you already knew whilst giving voices to very well timed and equally well written new narrators.

Finding Mrs Ford isn't a heavy hitting treatise on ethnicity and discrimination, but it is a solidly good mystery exploring the events of a long ago summer, the long term repercussions made in many lives by the decisions of very young people and an unexpected pageturner!

I read a bunch of good reviews for this book, so I guess I' in the minority when I say I wasn't keen. I enjoyed the flashbacks and the fact that it was fairly easy to read. It was just unmemorable. Maybe saying I wasn't keen is a bit harsh, i didn't hate it. I just barely remember it.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Liana 4 stars
This was definitely an interesting and unexpected story.
Going back to her early life, Susan is remembering her past and everything that she keeps locked down in her heart.
I've enjoyed this story, there are many things that I liked and was invested to know more about how people were living their lives in 1979. ( Jeez I wasn't even born then and maybe that's why it was more appealing to me)
It's a good written book, with a great main female character and a fast paced at times story, it kept me wanting more with every page as the events are unfold and there are a few twists and turns that honestly I didn't see them coming.
I didn't really enjoyed the ending, maybe because I wanted anything one or because it felt a bit rushed or short.
Overall it's a great book and I '' sure it could be a great screenplay if the chances arrive for the author , I for one will definitely see that movie.

There were two things that attracted me to this book, firstly Baghdad was mentioned and I'm a sucker for all books Middle East and secondly, the author was in 91210 and we all loved a bit of that back in the day.

Sadly Baghdad is barely featured, its only really there as a reference as all of the actual story line is based in the USA.

I admit that the first few chapters I was regretting my choice, then all of a sudden I was there, involved, right in the centre not knowing where to look first.

Theres only one other book that has turned my head like this, only one other book that has made me scroll back through the pages to search for the clues I'd missed to the revelation (Between You and Me by Lisa Hall if your interested). My head literally spun.

I'm giving this four stars as I did feel the ending was rushed and not really in keeping with the rest of the book.

I've enjoyed the ride and its definitely going to be memorable. It certainly goes down on my 'I cant believe I didn't see this coming' list.

It's an easy read with various twist and turns; a bit of political history, a bit of gang culture, the ever popular 'now and then' time frame and a tall dark stranger. Perfect for reading for a summer's day.

The prose is a bit too detailed for me, perhaps it is the author's film background that compels her to put in extraneous detail. Early on the book we are told that Mrs Ford makes two cups of coffee, one with cream and sugar, and one with no cream for herself. I spent the rest of the book waiting for the significance of this fact to appear but to no avail. Towards the end of the book, bang in the centre of the drama, we are treated to a paragraph describing the architecture of the train station. Again this was totally irrelevant, we want to know how she is going to escape the baddies not that the roof was Spanish style.